Lesson 53: Luke 15
Introduction
The Pharisees and scribes complained
about the Savior’s association with publicans and sinners. The Savior responded
by giving the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son.
I.
Luke 15:1–10
Jesus gives the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin
---Begin class by asking students if
they have ever lost an item that was valuable to them.
- What were you willing to do to find it? Why?
- What do you think it means for a person to be spiritually “lost”? (Help students understand that this can refer to those who have not yet received the restored gospel of Jesus Christ or are not currently living according to the teachings of the gospel.)
---Invite the class to think of
someone they know who may be spiritually lost. Ask them to ponder how they feel
about this person.
---Explain that Luke 15 contains the Savior’s teachings
about those who are spiritually lost. Invite students to look for truths in Luke 15 concerning how Heavenly Father feels
about those who are spiritually lost and the responsibilities we have toward
them.
---Read Luke 15:1–2
looking for who drew near to Jesus and what the Pharisees and scribes
complained about.
- Who drew near to the Savior? Why were the Pharisees and scribes complaining?
- What does this complaint reveal about the Pharisees and scribes?
---Explain that the Savior responded
by giving three parables: one of a lost sheep, one of a lost coin, and one of a
lost son. These parables were meant to both give hope to the sinner as well as
condemn the hypocrisy and self-righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.
Encourage students to pay attention to why the subject of each parable became
lost and how it was found.
---Copy the following chart on the
board or provide it to students as a handout. Group students into pairs, and
assign one student to study Luke 15:3–7 and the other to study Luke 15:8–10. Invite students to read their
assigned parables, looking for answers to the questions in the left column.
(The third parable will be covered later in the lesson.)
Parables
of the Lost Sheep, Coin, and Son
Luke 15:3–7 (see also verse 4, footnote a if available in
your edition of the scriptures)
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What was lost?
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Why was it lost?
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How was it found?
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What words or phrases describe the
reaction to it being found?
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---After sufficient time, ask
students to explain their assigned parable and report their answers to the
questions in the chart to their partners. After both students in each group
have finished, invite a few students to come to the board and fill in the chart
with their answers or (if you did not draw the chart on the board) to share
their answers with the class.
- What is the difference between how the sheep and the coin were lost? (The sheep became lost through no fault of its own, while the coin was lost because of the negligence or carelessness of its owner [see David O. McKay, in Conference Report, Apr. 1945, 120, 121–22].)
- According to verses 7 and 10, what do the coin and the sheep that are found represent? (They represent a sinner who has repented and turned to God.)
- What is our responsibility toward those who are lost, regardless of how they became lost?
---Write the following incomplete
statement on the board: When we help others feel a desire to
repent …
- Based on the responses of those who found what was lost, how would you complete the statement on the board? (Students should identify a principle similar to the following: When we help others feel a desire to repent, we feel joy and the heavens rejoice. Complete the written principle on the board. You may want to invite students to consider writing this principle in their scriptures next to Luke 15:1–10.)
- How have you or someone you know helped a person who was spiritually lost feel a desire to repent or draw closer to Heavenly Father? When has someone helped you? (Remind students that they should not share experiences that are too personal or private.)
II.
Luke 15:11–32
Jesus gives the parable of the prodigal son
---Invite the class to consider the
following scenario:
A young
woman has committed serious sins and has stopped praying and attending church.
She feels a desire to begin praying and living the Lord’s standards, but she
worries that He would not want her back.
---Ask students to reflect on
whether they know someone who may have felt like the individual in the
scenario. Explain that the third parable in Luke 15 is the story of a prodigal (meaning
wasteful and recklessly extravagant) son, his older brother, and their father.
---Look for truths as we study this
parable that can help individuals who may feel they are lost beyond hope.
---Consider dividing students into
groups of three. Provide each group with a copy of the following handout.
Invite them to read Luke 15:11–32 aloud in their groups. Assign one
student to consider the parable from the perspective of the prodigal son, the
second student to consider it from the perspective of the father, and the third
student to consider it from the perspective of the older brother.
---After students have finished
reading, ask them to discuss the questions on the handout in their groups.
Instead of asking students to read and discuss the parable,
you could show the video “The Prodigal Son” (5:35) from The Life of Jesus Christ
Bible Videos.
Provide each student with a copy of the following handout, and ask students to
look for answers to the questions as they view the video. This video is
available on LDS.org.
The
Parable of the Prodigal Son
The
Prodigal Son
- What helped you come to yourself, or recognize the awful situation you were in?
- How did you expect your father to respond to your return home?
- What might you have been thinking and feeling when your father treated you as he did?
The
Father
- What might you have been thinking and feeling while your younger son was gone?
- Why would you welcome your prodigal son home in the way you did?
- When your elder son resented how you treated his younger brother, how did you help him understand your actions?
The
Older Brother
- What might you have been thinking and feeling while your brother was gone?
- Why was it difficult for you to rejoice in your brother’s return?
- What blessings have you received for being faithful to your father?
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---Ask students how they would
complete the third column (Luke 15:11–32) of the chart on the board or on
the first handout. Write students’ answers on the board, or invite students to
write their answers on their handouts.
- Why did the prodigal son become lost? (In contrast to the sheep and the coin, the prodigal son became lost due to his own rebelliousness.)
- Understanding that the father in this parable represents Heavenly Father, what can we learn about how Heavenly Father responds to those who return to Him by repenting? (Students should identify a principle similar to the following: If we return to Heavenly Father by repenting and seeking His forgiveness, He will rejoice and welcome us back with open arms. Write this principle on the board.)
- How might this principle help those who feel spiritually lost?
---Invite a student to read aloud
the following statement by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the
Twelve Apostles:
“The tender image of this boy’s anxious, faithful father
running to meet him and showering him with kisses is one of the most moving and
compassionate scenes in all of holy writ. It tells every child of God, wayward
or otherwise, how much God wants us back in the protection of His arms” (“The Other Prodigal,” Ensign, May 2002, 62).
---Remind students of the older
brother in the parable.
- Why do you think the older brother was angry?
---Invite a student to read aloud
the following statement by Elder Holland, and ask the class to listen for
insights regarding why the older brother was angry:
“This son is not so much angry that the other has come home
as he is angry that his parents are so happy about it. Feeling unappreciated
and perhaps more than a little self-pity, this dutiful son—and he is wonderfully
dutiful—forgets for a moment that he has never had to know filth or despair,
fear or self-loathing. He forgets for a moment that every calf on the ranch is
already his and so are all the robes in the closet and every ring in the
drawer. He forgets for a moment that his faithfulness has been and always will
be rewarded. …
“… He has yet to come to the compassion and mercy, the
charitable breadth of vision to see that this is not a rival returning. It is
his brother. …
“Certainly this younger brother had been a prisoner—a
prisoner of sin, stupidity, and a pigsty. But the older brother lives in some
confinement, too. He has, as yet, been unable to break out of the prison of
himself. He is haunted by the green-eyed monster of jealousy” (“The Other Prodigal,” 63).
- According to Elder Holland, why was the older brother angry?
- What do we need to remember when we see God being merciful and blessing those who repent and return to Him?
- What principle can we learn from this parable about becoming more like our Father in Heaven? (Students should identify a principle similar to the following: We can become more like our Father in Heaven by responding with compassion and joy when others repent.)
---Review the principles students
learned from the parables in Luke 15. Ask students to explain how they
might have used these principles to respond to the Pharisees and scribes who
complained when Jesus ate with sinners.
---Remind students of the person
they thought about at the beginning of class who may be spiritually lost.
Encourage them to prayerfully consider how they might be able to help that
person repent and draw closer to Heavenly Father. Invite students to write
their response to the following question in their class notebooks or scripture
study journals:
- What is one way you will apply what you have learned today?
Commentary
and Background Information
Luke
15. “The Parables of the Lost”
The parables recorded in Luke 15 were the Savior’s response to the
Pharisees and scribes after they had condemned Him for eating and drinking with
sinners. Seen in this context, these parables contain not only words of hope
for the repentant sinner but also a strong rebuke against self-righteousness.
This rebuke may be seen in the Savior’s statement that there is more joy in
heaven over one repentant sinner than over 99 just persons who do not need to
repent. The Savior’s reference to “just persons, which need no repentance” (Luke 15:7) does not suggest the Pharisees and
scribes did not need to repent. Rather, it was an apt representation of the
Pharisees’ and scribes’ prideful self-regard and their failure to acknowledge
their own need to repent. Another condemnation of such attitudes may be seen in
the older brother’s actions in the parable of the prodigal son. Like the
Pharisees and scribes who complained when Jesus received sinners, the older
brother in the parable reacts with self-righteous hostility rather than
compassion when his father welcomes back the wayward brother.
Luke
15:1–32. The sheep, the coin, and the prodigal son became lost in different
ways
President David O. McKay spoke
on the reasons that some become lost:
“I desire to refer to the conditions
that contributed to [the sheep, the coin, and the prodigal son] being
lost. …
“I ask you tonight, how did that
sheep get lost? He was not rebellious. If you follow the comparison, the lamb
was seeking its livelihood in a perfectly legitimate manner, but either
stupidly, perhaps unconsciously, it followed the enticement of the field, the
prospect of better grass until it got out beyond the fold and was lost.
“So we have those in the Church,
young men and young women, who wander away from the fold in perfectly
legitimate ways. They are seeking success, success in business, success in
their professions, and before long they become disinterested in Church and
finally disconnected from the fold; they have lost track of what true success
is, perhaps stupidly, perhaps unconsciously, in some cases, perhaps willingly.
They are blind to what constitutes true success. …
“In [the case of the lost coin] the
thing lost was not in itself responsible. The one who had been trusted with
that coin had, through carelessness or neglect, mislaid it or dropped it. There
is a difference, and this is the one-third, which I think applies to us
tonight. Our charge is not only coins, but living souls of children, youth, and
adults. They are our charges. Some of them may be wandering tonight because of
the neglect of the ward teachers. …
“[Regarding the prodigal son:] Here
is a case of volition, here is choice, deliberate choice. Here is, in a way,
rebellion against authority. And what did he do? He spent his means in riotous
living, he wasted his portion with harlots. That is the way they are lost.
“Youth who start out to indulge
their appetites and passions are on the downward road to apostasy as sure as
the sun rises in the east. I do not confine it to youth; any man or woman who
starts out on that road of intemperance, of dissolute living will separate
himself or herself from the fold as inevitably as darkness follows the day” (in
Conference Report, Apr. 1945, 120, 121–22, 123).
Luke
15:1–32. The parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son
Elder James E. Talmage of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles wrote:
“The three parables … are as one in
portraying the joy that abounds in heaven over the recovery of a soul once
numbered among the lost, whether that soul be best symbolized by a sheep that
had wandered afar, a coin that had dropped out of sight through the custodian’s
neglect, or a son who would deliberately sever himself from home and heaven.
There is no justification for the inference that a repentant sinner is to be
given precedence over a righteous soul who had resisted sin. … Unqualifiedly
offensive as is sin, the sinner is yet precious in the Father’s eyes, because
of the possibility of his repentance and return to righteousness. The loss of a
soul is a very real and a very great loss to God. He is pained and grieved
thereby, for it is His will that not one should perish” (Jesus the Christ,
3rd ed. [1916], 461).
Luke
15:3–7. The lost sheep
“The Prophet Joseph
Smith (1805–44) said that one interpretation of the parable is that
the ‘hundred sheep represent one hundred Sadducees and Pharisees’ and since
they did not accept and follow the Savior’s teachings, He would go outside the
sheepfold to search for ‘a few individuals, or one poor publican, which the
Pharisees and Sadducees despised.’ When He had found the ‘sheep that are lost’
who would repent and receive Him, they would have ‘joy in heaven’ (in History
of the Church, 5:262). This interpretation helps us understand that the
Savior’s words were a rebuke to help the Pharisees and scribes recognize their
own need to repent, for the Lord commands ‘all men everywhere to repent’ (D&C 133:16; see also Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8; D&C 18:9, 42)” (New Testament Student
Manual [Church Educational System manual, 2014], 168–69).
Luke
15:11–32. “The prodigal son”
Referring to the parable of the
prodigal son, President Gordon B. Hinckley urged:
“I ask you to read that story. Every
parent ought to read it again and again. It is large enough to encompass every
household, and enough larger than that to encompass all mankind, for are we not
all prodigal sons and daughters who need to repent and partake of the forgiving
mercy of our Heavenly Father and then follow His example?” (“Of You It Is Required to Forgive,” Ensign, June
1991, 5).
President Hinckley also said:
“Some of our own … cry out in pain
and suffering and loneliness and fear. Ours is a great and solemn duty to reach
out and help them, to lift them, to feed them if they are hungry, to nurture
their spirits if they thirst for truth and righteousness. …
“… There are those who were
once warm in the faith, but whose faith has grown cold. Many of them wish to
come back but do not know quite how to do it. They need friendly hands reaching
out to them. With a little effort, many of them can be brought back to feast
again at the table of the Lord.
“My brethren and sisters, I would
hope, I would pray that each of us … would resolve to seek those who need help,
who are in desperate and difficult circumstances, and lift them in the spirit
of love into the embrace of the Church, where strong hands and loving hearts
will warm them, comfort them, sustain them, and put them on the way of happy
and productive lives” (“Reach with a Rescuing Hand,” Ensign, Nov.
1996, 86).
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All rights reserved.
Right margin
extras:
Small
group assignments
During small group assignments,
students can become distracted from the purpose of the activity, visit on
personal matters, or become casual in their efforts to learn. Remain actively
involved by moving from group to group and monitoring the learning activity to
help students stay on task and gain the most from the assignment.
Lesson 54: Luke 16
Introduction
Jesus taught the parable of the
unjust steward. The Pharisees heard Jesus’s teachings and ridiculed Him. Jesus
then rebuked the Pharisees and taught them the parable of the rich man and
Lazarus.
I.
Luke 16:1–12
Jesus teaches the parable of the unjust steward
---Consider bringing to class items
that could represent earthly riches and power, such as money, an electronic
device, a diploma, a toy car, or a picture of a house.
---Begin the lesson by asking:
- What are some items that people often set their hearts on and try to obtain? (If you brought related items to class, display them as students mention them. Otherwise, ask a student to list class members’ responses on the board.)
- What are some riches that Heavenly Father wants us to seek? (Invite a student to list on the board class members’ responses, which may include eternal families, peace, joy, and celestial glory. Instruct the student to write the heading Eternal Riches above the list.)
---Point out that we can enjoy some
of these eternal riches in this life. Ask students to ponder which eternal
riches are particularly important to them. Invite them to look for truths as
they study Luke 16 that can help them obtain eternal riches.
---Explain that after teaching the
parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son, the Savior
taught the parable of the unjust steward. You may want to explain that a
steward is someone who manages another person’s business affairs, money, or
property.
- What had the steward been doing with the rich man’s goods?
- What was the consequence of the steward’s wastefulness? (He would lose his job.)
---In Luke 16:3–7 the steward worried about what he would do
when he lost his job because he did not feel he could do manual labor and was
too ashamed to beg. He devised a plan that he thought might lead to job
opportunities in other households. He visited two of the rich man’s debtors and
significantly discounted their debts, which he hoped would earn their favor.
---Read Luke 16:8
looking for how the rich man responded when he learned about his steward’s
actions. Explain that “children of this world” are worldly minded people and
that “children of light” are followers of God, or spiritually minded people.
- How did the rich man respond when he learned about his steward’s actions? What did the rich man commend? (The rich man commended the steward’s cleverness in obtaining the favor of the rich man’s debtors. He was not commending the steward’s dishonesty.)
---Provide students with copies of
the following statement by Elder James E. Talmage of the Quorum of the
Twelve Apostles. Invite a student to read the statement aloud. Ask the class to
follow along, looking for what the Savior was teaching through the parable of
the unjust steward.
“Our Lord’s purpose was to show the contrast between the
care, thoughtfulness, and devotion of men engaged in the money-making affairs
of earth, and the half hearted ways of many who are professedly striving after
spiritual riches. …
“… Take a lesson from even the dishonest and the evil;
if they are so prudent as to provide for the only future they think of, how much
more should you, who believe in an eternal future, provide therefor! … Emulate
the unjust steward and the lovers of mammon, not in their dishonesty, cupidity
[selfish greed], and miserly hoarding of the wealth that is at best but
transitory [temporary], but in their zeal, forethought, and provision for the
future” (Jesus the Christ, 3rd ed. [1916], 463, 464).
- What did the Savior want His disciples to learn from worldly minded people like the unjust steward?
---Write the following incomplete
statement on the board: If we wisely prepare for our eternal
future …
---Read Luke 16:10–12
looking for what the Savior said we must do to be blessed with eternal riches.
Explain that mammon refers to earthly riches, including money, possessions, and
associations.
- What do you think it means to be “faithful in that which is least” (verse 10)? (After students respond, add the following to the phrase on the board: and righteously use earthly riches …)
---Direct students’ attention to the
list of eternal riches on the board.
- What makes these “true riches” (verse 11)?
---Ask students to complete the
statement on the board so that it creates a principle about how we can obtain
eternal riches. (Students should identify the following principle:
If we wisely prepare for our eternal future and righteously use earthly riches,
we can be blessed with eternal riches.)
- Why is it sometimes difficult to wisely and diligently prepare for our eternal future?
- How can we righteously use earthly riches?
- How does our righteous use of earthly riches reflect our worthiness to be trusted with eternal riches?
II.
Luke 16:13–31
Jesus rebukes the Pharisees and teaches the parable of the rich man
and Lazarus
---Direct students’ attention to the
list on the board (or, if you brought them, to the objects representing earthly
riches), and ask them to ponder how coveting earthly riches can prevent us from
obtaining eternal riches.
---Look for one answer to this
question as we study Luke 16:13–26.
---In Luke 16:13–14 the Savior taught that we “cannot serve [both]
God and mammon” (verse 13). The Pharisees heard the Savior’s
teachings and “derided” (verse 14), or ridiculed, Him. Ask students
to search in Luke 16:14 for the word that describes the
Pharisees and offers one explanation as to why they ridiculed the Savior for
His teachings.
- From what you have learned about the Pharisees, what did they covet? (Earthly wealth and power [see Matthew 23:2–6, 14].)
- Why do you think the Pharisees’ covetousness led them to ridicule the Savior?
---The Joseph Smith Translation of Luke 16:16–23 (in the
Bible appendix) provides further insight into the exchange
between the Pharisees and the Savior. Invite a student to read aloud the following
summary of this translation:
The Pharisees claimed that the law of
Moses
and other prophetic scripture (the Old Testament) served as their law, and they
therefore rejected Jesus as their judge. Jesus explained that the law of Moses
and the prophets had testified of Him. He questioned the Pharisees for denying
what had been written and rebuked them for “pervert[ing] the right way” (Joseph Smith Translation, Luke 16:21). To help
the Pharisees, whose hearts were set on worldly riches and power, to understand
their behavior and the consequences of it, the Savior likened them to the rich
man in the parable recorded in Luke 16:19–31.
---Ask three volunteers to
participate in a reader’s theater. Assign one volunteer to read the Savior’s
words (Luke 16:19–23), the second volunteer to read
the rich man’s words (Luke 16:24, 27, 28, 30), and the third
volunteer to read Abraham’s words (Luke 16:25, 26, 29, 31). Instruct these
students to read aloud their parts in Luke 16:19–26. Ask the class to follow along,
looking for what a poor man named Lazarus and a rich man experienced.
- How did the mortal lives of the rich man and Lazarus differ?
- How did their postmortal lives differ? (You may need to explain that “Abraham’s bosom” [verse 22] represents paradise in the spirit world and that “hell” [verse 23] refers to the spirit prison [see Bible Dictionary, “Abraham’s Bosom,” “Hell”].)
- In what way did the rich man fail to use his earthly riches righteously?
---Remind students that the rich man
in this parable represents the covetous Pharisees.
- What can we learn from this parable about what will happen if we are covetous and do not righteously use our earthly riches? (After students respond, write the following principle on the board: If we are covetous and do not use our earthly riches righteously, we will eventually experience suffering and regret [see also D&C 104:18].)
---To prepare students to identify
an additional truth from this parable, invite them to think of someone they
care about who is choosing to live in disobedience to the Savior’s teachings.
- What do you think could convince that person to repent and change his or her lifestyle?
---Invite the assigned students to
read aloud their parts in Luke 16:27–31. Ask the class to follow along,
looking for the rich man’s request.
- What did the rich man want done for his five brothers? Why?
- What did the rich man believe would happen if Lazarus appeared to the rich man’s brothers?
---The rich man believed his
brothers would repent and be converted to the truth if Lazarus appeared to
them. Conversion is “changing one’s beliefs, heart, and life to accept and
conform to the will of God” (Guide
to the Scriptures, “Conversion, Convert,” scriptures.lds.org).
- According to the parable, why did Abraham not send Lazarus to the rich man’s brothers?
---Point out that by mentioning
“Moses and the prophets” (Luke 16:29, 31), the Savior was again
referencing the scriptures that the Pharisees claimed to believe in and live by
but in reality rejected. Explain that a real man named Lazarus later became
“one [who] rose from the dead” (verse 31) when the Savior brought him back
to life (see John 11). Later, Jesus became the One who
rose from the dead when He was resurrected. However, in both instances, the
Pharisees and others rejected the evidence of the Savior’s divinity and were
not persuaded to repent.
- What truth about conversion can we learn from what Abraham taught the rich man in this parable? (Students may identify a variety of truths, but make sure they identify the following truth: Conversion comes through believing and heeding the words of prophets, not by witnessing miracles or seeing angels.)
- Why do you think conversion comes through believing and heeding the words of prophets rather than through witnessing miracles or seeing angels?
- How can we help people believe and heed the words of prophets?
- What specific teachings from prophets have influenced your conversion?
---Invite students to write in their
class notebooks or scripture study journals ways in which they can better
believe or heed specific teachings or counsel from prophets, thereby
strengthening their conversion. Encourage students to apply what they wrote.
Commentary
and Background Information
Luke
16:9. “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness”
Making “friends of the mammon of
unrighteousness” refers to using earthly money, possessions, influence, and
associations to accomplish righteous purposes. The Savior gave this counsel
both to His disciples during His mortal ministry and to Latter-day Saints (see D&C 82:22). President Joseph Fielding Smith
described how Latter-day Saints can apply this counsel:
“It is not intended that in making
friends of the ‘mammon of unrighteousness’ that the brethren were to partake
with them in their sins; to receive them to their bosoms, intermarry with them
and otherwise come down to their level. They were to so live that peace with
their enemies might be assured. They were to treat them kindly, be friendly
with them as far as correct and virtuous principles would permit, but never to
swear with them or drink and carouse with them. If they could allay prejudice
and show a willingness to trade with and show a kindly spirit, it might help to
turn them away from their bitterness. Judgment was to be left with the Lord” (Church
History and Modern Revelation, 2 vols. [1953], 1:323).
As disciples of Jesus
Christ, we are to be respectful and friendly to others. In so doing,
we can broaden our circle of acquaintances and learn from others. Through genuine
interactions, those with whom we associate can be led to form favorable
opinions toward us and the Lord’s Church. They may even come to our or the
Church’s defense should the need arise.
Luke
16:1–12. Learning from the parable of the unjust steward
For additional lessons we can learn
from the parable of the unjust steward, see Brother Tsung-Ting Yang, former
Area Seventy, “Parables of Jesus: The Unjust Steward,” Ensign,
July 2003, 28–31.
Luke
16:19–26. Consequences of neglecting others’ needs
The rich man lived luxuriously while
Lazarus suffered in poverty. Though no specific sin of the rich man is
mentioned in this parable, the description of Lazarus, including the fact that
he was “laid at [the rich man’s] gate” (Luke 16:20), indicates that the rich man
neglected to respond to Lazarus’s begging for relief. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles reminded us that we are all beggars for
God’s mercy and taught about our responsibility to help others who have
temporal needs. He made the following promise regarding how we can know the
right way to provide this help:
“[God] will help you and guide you
in compassionate acts of discipleship if you are conscientiously wanting and
praying and looking for ways to keep a commandment He has given us again and
again” (“Are We Not All Beggars?” Ensign or Liahona, Nov.
2014, 41).
Luke
16:19–31. Correcting the inequities of mortal life
In the parable of the rich man and
Lazarus, the rich man was told, “Thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good
things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art
tormented” (Luke 16:25). The different experiences of the
rich man and Lazarus in mortality and in the spirit world illustrate the power
of the Atonement to overturn or correct unfairness and injustice experienced in
this life. Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, justice works in the favor
of, and is friend to, the righteous.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson of
the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:
“The Savior makes all things right.
No injustice in mortality is permanent, even death, for He restores life again.
No injury, disability, betrayal, or abuse goes uncompensated in the end because
of His ultimate justice and mercy” (“The Resurrection of Jesus Christ,” Ensign or Liahona,
May 2014, 112).
Luke
16:19–31. The spirit world in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus
“The parable of the rich man and
Lazarus refers to two different conditions in the postmortal spirit world:
‘Abraham’s bosom’ and ‘hell’ (see Luke 16:22–23). The former is depicted as a place
of comfort in the company of the faithful (epitomized by father Abraham), the
latter as a place of torment. … Between this abode of the faithful and ‘hell’
there was ‘a great gulf fixed’ (Luke 16:26), which prevented interchange between
the two. …
“… Before Christ’s death,
spirits from paradise could not visit those who were in spirit prison. His
ministry in the spirit world bridged the gulf between paradise and the spirit
prison, making it possible for the spirits in prison to receive the message of
the gospel from authorized ministers sent from paradise (see D&C 138:18–37; John 5:25–29; 1 Peter 3:18–21; 4:6)” (New Testament Student Manual [Church
Educational System manual, 2014], 173). For a visual representation of the gulf
between these two conditions that Christ bridged, see the commentary for Luke 16:19–31 in the New Testament Student
Manual.
Joseph
Smith Translation, Luke 16:16–23 (in the Bible
appendix). The Pharisees’ wickedness
As recorded in Joseph Smith Translation, Luke 16:16–23, Jesus
rebuked the Pharisees for “pervert[ing] the right way” (Joseph Smith Translation, Luke 16:21 [in the
Bible appendix]). One way the Pharisees had done this was by pretending to
follow the law of Moses and other scriptures while they were
actually using them for wicked purposes. Jesus referred to one example of this
when he called the Pharisees adulterers, to which they angrily responded by
ridiculing Him again. Jesus then described the Pharisees’ unrighteous sanction
of divorce for reasons other than fornication, which they tried to justify by
twisting a law given by Moses (see also Matthew 19:3–9). The Savior also declared that in
their hearts these men did not really believe in God.
Throughout His ministry, Jesus
exposed the Pharisees’ abuse and twisted interpretations of the law of Moses
and other teachings of ancient prophets. He became a threat to the social and
political power the Pharisees had obtained through their wickedness. Because of
this, many Pharisees sought to have Jesus killed.
© 2016 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Right margin
extras:
Positively
acknowledge students’ responses
Be sure to positively acknowledge
students’ responses in some way, possibly by thanking them or commenting on their
answers. Doing this will help students feel listened to and validated and can
help them feel more comfortable sharing answers, insights, and experiences in
the future.
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